Parking wardens handed out £564,000 of fines on a stretch of road just 1.5 miles long last year.

Haringey Council in North London issued 12,302 penalty charge notices averaging £45 each on Green Lanes in a haul that was by far the country's biggest.

A spokesman said: "It is a primary route and traffic must be kept moving. The number of fines has actually fallen."

Alum Rock Road in Birmingham was in second place at £351,420 and London's Liverpool Street, was third at £201,021, The figures come as a former Met police traffic officer Chris Leithead claimed: "Millions of tickets have been issued unlawfully.